Charlie Swan: Vampire Hunter

23

Charlie

I don't know what happened after Bella and Edward's date, but she hid in her room for two days after. I could barely get her to eat dinner with me, let alone leave the house. Eventually, I decided to force her out, making up some excuse about needing eggs for breakfast.

"Dad, you can drive. Go get them yourself."

"If I go the blueberry pie I put in the oven will burn."

"Fine, I'll go. But I'm taking the truck."

I think abut it for a second. Technically Bella's 16 but I'm not sure if she has her license. Getting her out of the house is worth the risk through, so I give in and toss her the keys. "Deal. Drive safely."

I just catch her eye roll as she turns and walks out.

Bella

I pull out of the driveway without looking and almost hit the mailbox across the street. I can't believe my dad actually let me take the truck even through he has to know that I don't have my license I've driven before but never a truck and never on a real road. The store parking lot is almost empty except for a couple of motorcycles and two janky looking cars which is a blessing in that I have no clue how to park and end up taking up two spots.

I slam the car door and stalk into the market ignoring everyone and head straight for the eggs. I know this was just a ploy to get me out of the house, but I can't really bring myself to care. As annoying as it is to be forced to do dad's chores, fresh air has been refreshing. I grab the first dozen of eggs I see and turn around quickly, heading for the check out. I slam face first into a veritable wall of muscle. I let out an undignified harumph and then screech as smashed egg makes its way through my shirt.
"What the hell! Why were you standing so close to me?" I screech, looking down at the mess.

"Sorry, sorry." The deep voice rumbles. Its familiar enough to make me stop wiping egg juice off and actually look at who I ran into.

"Jacob?" I ask in semi-disbelief.

Jacob and I were friends in elementary school when my parents still lived together. Before Arizona and Edward and all the weirdness of the past couple of days. Since the move, we drifted apart mostly because of distance. I haven't seen or thought about him in years but seeing him brings back good memories.

"Bella!" He says, flashing me a smile. "When did you get back to Forks? How long are you staying in the area, we should hang out some time."

"I... um about a week ago." I stutter. "Spring break."

He nods and hands me a bandana he seemingly pulled out of thin air. "This might help wih the egg. If you want, some a couple of my friends are going cliff jumping this weekend. It should be pretty chill if you want to come."

I nod mutely. Much as I want to accept the offer to do something with him, cliff jumping is not my jam. Water isn't really my thing, growing up for the most part in Arizona there wasn't exactly a plethora of opportunities for swimming in large bodies of water. "I have your number. I'll let you know." I say, handing back the bandana. "Thanks for this, very helpful."

He takes it back and shoved it in a back pocket. "Just let me know. I'll pick you up if you decide to go so no worries about getting a ride from Charlie."

"I'll think on it." I grab a carton of eggs and head for the register. I feel him watching me leave but can't bring myself to care.

I text him at 11:30.

Bella: Still going cliff jumping this weekend?

Jacob: Yeah you in?

Bella: I'm in

Jacob: I'll pick you up at 2 tomorrow.

The day drags on for what feels like forever. I spend most of the day pacing and mentally berating myself for agreeing to go cliff jumping of all things. I can swim, but I'm by no means the strongest swimmer in the world. I also didn't pack anything close to a swimsuit because Washington in March isn't exactly known for its prime swimming weather.

I jump when my phone buzzes, then bound across my room to check it.

Jacob: Outside when you're ready. Bring warm clothes and a towel.

I grab my bag which has a towel and as many warm clothes as I could fit. I run down the stairs.

"Bye dad! I'm going out with Jacob. Be back later." I shout over my shoulder as I run out the door.

I hear Charlie grumbling about teenagers as I slam the door shut and run across the lawn. Jacob is leaning against his shiny black motorcycle and has a helmet ready for me.
"Ready?" He asks, handing me the helmet and making sure its properly adjusted on me head.

"Yeah." I reply grabbing tight around his torso. I've been on motorcycles before, but they still make me nervous.

The cliffs are on the edge of Forks on the way to the La Push reservation. Today everything is grey, windy, and cold. We pull up and complete a circle of motorcycles that has formed on the pull off. The cliffs themselves are about 100 feet tall, although there is no way I'm jumping form the top, and I can see white froth from the surf at the bottom.

"Are you sure that this is safe?" I ask, looking apprehensively at the dark water.
"It's for sure deep enough at the bottom. I've been doing this every summer since I can remember. Today looks pretty choppy, but we'll have people at the bottom to grab you." He says grabbing my shoulders. "We got you Bells you'll be fine. I'll go first so you get an idea of what it'll look like, and we'll have you start at the shortest jump first and go from there."

I nod and take a deep breath. "Ok. Let's do this."

The water was icy cold and nocked the breath of my me my first jump. I could barely tell which was up, and there were currents under the surface that I wasn't expecting. I had to get dragged up by one of Jacob's friends. The second jump from the lowest cliff was far more successful. I was able to kick back shore through the chop by myself.

"I think you're ready for a real jump now Bells." Jacob practically crows when I drag myself back onto the rocks.

"If you say so." I reply, collapsing onto the rocks to catch my breath. I may have made it back by myself, but swimming in water that cold and wavy is not as easy as all the guys make it look.

"You just need to be sure not to enter at any weird angles so there are no spinal injuries. I'll walk you through what that looks like and show you and then you'll be ready to have at it. Honestly as long as you don't go in headfirst and funny, you'll be fine."

His second, more thorough explanation makes much more sense. I need to be completely streamlined, not looking at the water, if I want to go in headfirst and avoid injury. Basically, just have everything in line and nothing sticking out. The other option is to not go in headfirst and then it doesn't matter nearly as much. Seeing as actually diving into the water sounds like the most dangerous and terrifying thing I could do, I opt not to do that.

I jump and time slows as I fall. I can feel my hair flying around my face. The wind whipping my shorts and tank top around, skintight and wet as they are. The cold bite of the water as first me feet and then my whole body hits the water. The sting of salt in my eyes. The shock of the water forcing the air out of my lungs. The burn of oxygen deprivation. Black creeping along the edges of my vision. The tugging of the currents on my arms and legs. The irrepressible urge to take a breath that sends a wave of black water into my aching lungs. Then darkness.

Charlie

After Bella leaves, I spend the day researching the paranormal world I've been thrown into. Turns out that vampires and werewolves aren't the only myths that are real, actually most myths and religions are based in truth. Dragons, daemons, hellhounds, and pretty much anything else you can think of has some kind of real-life counterpart. My head is buzzing with all the different horrors that live in the far corners of the world and how hard to kill most of them are when there is a loud insistent knocking on the front door. I open it to find Jacob drenched and panting.
"You need to come. It's Bella. She's in the hospital. Not sure... they're not sure if shes going to make it."